Volleyball sweeps weekend series to improve to 12–1 on season

The volleyball team was able to keep its hot start to the season going with straight-set wins over Ramapo College and SUNY Potsdam on Sept. 19 at the Ramapo Invitational in Mahwah, New Jersey.

The first set saw a tough back-and-forth battle as neither team could quite gain the upper hand. The largest lead came in the very beginning of the first set when the Bombers jumped out to a 3–0 advantage thanks in part to some unforced errors by Ramapo. The Roadrunners would eventually settle into the game, however, to tie things up.

For the remainder of the set, neither team was able to take more than a two-point lead, with the Blue and Gold ultimately winning the set 25–23. Sophomore Kayla Gromen tallied six points with a .333 hitting percentage for the Bombers, while the team as a whole hit .061.

The South Hill squad transferred the momentum from the first-set win into an easy 25–16 second-set win and a final third-set victory by a score of 25–21. The team finished the game with a .235 hitting percentage, 38 total kills and 11 aces, compared to Ramapo’s three aces.

The three-set sweep was led by Gromen, who finished the match with 12.5 points and led the team in assists with 29. Freshman Katie Evans led the team with eight kills, while fellow freshman Amanda Cerruti scored 5.5 points with a hitting percentage of .444.

The second game of the afternoon for the Bombers led to a similar outcome, as the Bombers beat SUNY Potsdam in straight sets, 25–23, 25–18 and 25–18.

Though the first set proved to be a challenge for the Blue and Gold, they were able to find their groove after the close win and cruise in the final two sets. Leading the way for the Bombers was Evans, who finished the game with 11.5 points and nine kills.

Outside hitter Joelle Goldstein scored 8.5 points of her own to go along with seven hits and five digs with Gromen recording 32 assists. As a whole, the team had a hitting percentage of .288 and 43 kills, 10 more than opponent Potsdam.

The four wins the Bombers racked up at the Ramapo Invitational moved them to 12–1 on the season and kept alive their now 8-game winning streak. Next up for the Bombers will be a showdown at 6 p.m. Sept. 23 against Keuka College in the Ben Light Gymnasium.